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**THIS VERSION PROVIDED FOR SEARCHING/INDEXING ONLY**
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                           James Gillespie Blaine

            A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress

                     Prepared by Frank Tusa and others
                Revised and expanded by Connie L. Cartledge

                                    2001

                 Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

                              Washington, D.C.

       Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

                Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress
                         Manuscript Division, 2003

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Collection Summary

Title:    Papers of James Gillespie Blaine , 1777 - 1945 (bulk 1870 - 1892
)
ID No.:    MSS12914
Creator: Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830-1893
Extent:    7,000 items ; 48 containers ; 20 linear feet ; 21 microfilm
reels
Repository:    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Abstract:    United States secretary of state, United States representative
and senator from Maine, and journalist. Family and general correspondence,
speeches, writings, diaries, memoirs, notebooks, scrapbooks, and other
papers documenting Blaine's public career.

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of
person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and
listed alphabetically therein.

Names:

Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830-1893
Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848
Allison, William B. (William Boyd), 1829-1908--Correspondence
Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886--Correspondence
Blaine family
Blaine, James G., Mrs., 1828-1903--Correspondence
Blaine, Ephraim Lyon, 1796-1850--Correspondence
Blaine, Ephraim, 1741-1804--Correspondence
Blaine, Maria Louise Gillespie--Correspondence
Blaine, Walker, d. 1890--Correspondence
Boutwell, George S. (George Sewall), 1818-1905--Correspondence
Bristow, Benjamin Helm, 1832-1896--Correspondence
Burleigh, Edwin C. (Edwin Chick), 1843-1916--Correspondence
Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893--Correspondence
Cameron, J. D. (James Donald), 1833-1918--Correspondence
Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889--Correspondence
Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919--Correspondence
Chandler, William E. (William Eaton), 1835-1917--Correspondence
Chandler, Zachariah, 1813-1879--Correspondence
Childs, George William, 1829-1894--Correspondence
Clay, Henry, 1777-1852
Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885--Correspondence
Cornell, Alonzo B., 1832-1904--Correspondence
Cox, Samuel Sullivan, 1824-1889--Correspondence
Damrosch, Margaret Blaine, 1867-1949--Correspondence
Elkins, Stephen B. (Stephen Benton), 1841-1911--Correspondence
Evarts, William Maxwell, 1818-1901--Correspondence
Ewing, Thomas, 1829-1896--Correspondence
Field, Cyrus W. (Cyrus West), 1819-1892--Correspondence
Fish, Hamilton, 1808-1893--Correspondence
Flint, Charles R. (Charles Ranlett), 1850-1934--Correspondence
Ford, Patrick, 1835-1913--Correspondence
Foster, Charles, 1828-1904--Correspondence
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790--Correspondence
Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881--Correspondence
Garfield, Lucretia Rudolph, 1832-1918--Correspondence
Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898--Correspondence
Gorham, George Congdon, 1832-1909--Correspondence
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885--Correspondence
Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872--Correspondence
Grow, Galusha A. (Galusha Aaron), 1823-1907--Correspondence
Hale, Eugene, 1836-1918--Correspondence
Halstead, Murat, 1829-1908--Correspondence
Hamlin, Hannibal, 1809-1891--Correspondence
Harlan, John Marshall, 1833-1911--Correspondence
Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901--Correspondence
Harte, Bret, 1836-1902--Correspondence
Hay, John, 1838-1905--Correspondence
Hayes, Rutherford Birchard, 1822-1893--Correspondence
Hitchcock, Phineas Warrener, 1831-1881--Correspondence
Hoar, E. R. (Ebenezer Rockwood), 1816-1895--Correspondence
Hoar, George Frisbie, 1826-1904--Correspondence
Howard, O. O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909--Correspondence
Howe, Timothy O. (Timothy Otis), 1816-1883--Correspondence
Hoyt, Henry M. (Henry Martyn), 1830-1892--Correspondence
Hunt, William H. (William Henry), 1823-1883--Correspondence
Ingersoll, Robert Green, 1833-1899--Correspondence
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Lincoln, Robert Todd, 1843-1926--Correspondence
Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924--Correspondence
Logan, John Alexander, 1826-1886--Correspondence
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882--Correspondence
Madison, James, 1751-1836
McClure, Alexander K. (Alexander Kelly), 1828-1909--Correspondence
McKinley, William, 1843-1901--Correspondence
McPherson, Edward, 1830-1895--Correspondence
Medill, Joseph, 1823-1899--Correspondence
Miller, Warner, 1838-1918--Correspondence
Morgan, Edwin D. (Edwin Denison), 1811-1883--Correspondence
Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898--Correspondence
Morrill, Lot M. (Lot Myrick), 1812-1883--Correspondence
Pauncefote, Julian, Baron, 1828-1902--Correspondence
Phelps, William Walter, 1839-1894--Correspondence
Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884--Correspondence
Reed, Thomas B. (Thomas Brackett), 1839-1902--Correspondence
Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912--Correspondence
Rublee, Horace, 1829-1896--Correspondence
Schenck, Robert Cumming, 1809-1890--Correspondence
Sherman, Ellen Ewing, 1824-1888--Correspondence
Sherman, John, 1823-1900--Correspondence
Sherman, Rachel--Correspondence
Sherman, Thomas H. (Thomas Henry), b. 1842--Correspondence
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891--Correspondence
Smith, Charles E., 1836-1905--Correspondence
Trescott, William Henry, b. 1822--Correspondence
Vaughan, Benjamin, 1751-1835--Correspondence
Washburn, Israel, 1813-1883
Washburne, E. B. (Elihu Benjamin), 1816-1887--Correspondence
Washington, George, 1732-1799--Correspondence
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852--Correspondence
Weed, Thurlow, 1797-1882--Correspondence
Windom, William, 1827-1891--Correspondence
Wood, Fernando, 1812-1881--Correspondence
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
United States. Congress --History--19th century

Subjects:

Presidents--United States--Election--1884
Reconstruction
Europe--Foreign relations--United States
Latin America--Foreign relations--United States
Maine--Politics and government--1865-1950
United States--Foreign relations--Europe
United States--Foreign relations--Latin America
United States--Politics and government--1865-1900

Occupations:

Cabinet officers
Representatives, U.S. Congress--Maine
Senators, U.S. Congress--Maine

Administrative Information

Provenance:

The papers of James Gillespie Blaine, senator and representative from Maine
and secretary of state were deposited in the Library of Congress in 1935 by
his daughters, Mrs. Walter Damrosch and Mrs. Truxtun Beale. The deposit was
converted to a gift later that same year. Another installment was given in
1969 by Blaine's granddaughter, Mrs. Robert Littell. Small additions have
been made by gift and purchase from 1967 through 1990.

Processing History:

The papers of James Gillespie Blaine were arranged and described in 1970.
An addition was processed in 1981. A few items received in 1990 were
processed in 1999 and added to the additions series. The finding aid was
revised in 2001 to document a transfer of newspaper volumes to another
division of the Library of Congress.

Transfers:

Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial
divisions of the Library. Photographs have been transferred to the Prints
and Photographs Division. Newspapers have been transferred to the Serial
and Government Publications Division. All transfers are identified in these
divisions as part of the James Gillespie Blaine Papers.

Copyright Status:

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of James Gillespie
Blaine and members of his family is governed by the Copyright Law of the
United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Microfilm:

A microfilm edition of the first forty-seven containers of these papers is
available on twenty reels from the Library's Photoduplication Service for
purchase subject to the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17,
U.S.C.). Reel twenty-one, which includes the newspapers transferred to the
Serial and Government Publications Division, is also available for
purchase. The microfilm edition may also be requested on interlibrary loan
through the Library's Loan Division. No more than ten reels may be
requested for each loan period of one month. A copy of the register of the
James Gillespie Blaine Papers is available on reel one of the microfilm
edition.

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following
information: Container or reel number, James Gillespie Blaine Papers,
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

 Date          Event

 1830 , Jan.
 31            Born, West Brownsville, Pa.

 1847          Graduated from Washington College, Washington, Pa.

 1850          Married Harriet Stanwood

 1852 - 1854   Teacher, Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind,
               Philadelphia, Pa.

 1854          Moved to Maine; became editor of the Kennebec Journal and
               the Portland Advertiser

 1856          Delegate to the first Republican Party national convention

 1859 - 1862   Member, Maine state legislature

 1859 - 1881   Chairman, Maine Republican Party State Committee

 1863 - 1876   United States representative from Maine

 1877 - 1881   United States senator from Maine

 1881          Secretary of state

 1884          Unsuccessful Republican Party presidential candidate

 1884 - 1886   Published Twenty Years of Congress (Norwich, Conn.: H. Bill
               Publishing Co. 2 vols.)

 1889 - 1892   Secretary of state

 1893 , Jan.
 27            Died, Washington, D.C.

Scope and Content Note

The family papers of James Gillespie Blaine (1830-1893) span the years
1777-1945, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the years
1870-1892. The collection consists of diaries, memoirs, correspondence,
speeches, writings, notebooks, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous material.
Except for a small Addition series, the entire collection was microfilmed
in the order of its arrangement in 1976.

The Blaine Family Papers focus largely on James G. Blaine. His letters in
the Family Correspondence series are addressed mainly to his wife, Harriet
Stanwood Blaine; his mother, Maria Louise Gillespie Blaine; his oldest son,
Walker Blaine; and his secretary, Thomas H. Sherman. The letters
principally concern personal and family matters, but political references
are scattered throughout. Blaine served two presidents as secretary of
state, and there is a significant amount of correspondence written while he
was traveling in Europe in 1867.

In the General Correspondence series, the presidential campaign of 1884 is
treated in depth, and virtually all major issues of the period receive
attention. A small portion of the correspondence deals with foreign policy
and diplomacy, especially concerning Latin America. The series also
provides insight into Blaine's business activities. Included in the
correspondence are condolences conveyed to Blaine upon the death of his
son, Walker, in 1890 and the death of his son, Emmons, in 1892. Among the
correspondents are William B. Allison, George S. Boutwell, Benjamin H.
Bristow, Edwin C. Burleigh, Benjamin F. Butler, J. D. Cameron, Simon
Cameron, Andrew Carnegie, William E. Chandler, Zachariah Chandler, George
William Childs, Schuyler Colfax, Alonzo B. Cornell, Samuel Sullivan Cox,
Stephen B. Elkins, William Maxwell Evarts, Thomas Ewing, Cyrus W. Field,
Hamilton Fish, Charles R. Flint, Patrick Ford, Charles Foster, James A.
Garfield, Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, George Congdon Gorham, Ulysses S.
Grant, Horace Greeley, Galusha A. Grow, Eugene Hale, Murat Halstead,
Hannibal Hamlin, John Marshall Harlan, Benjamin Harrison, John Hay,
Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Phineas Warren Hitchcock, E. R. Hoar, George
Frisbie Hoar, O. O. Howard, Timothy A. Howe, Henry M. Hoyt, William H.
Hunt, Robert Green Ingersoll, Robert Todd Lincoln, Henry Cabot Lodge, John
Alexander Logan, Alexander K. McClure, William McKinley, Edward McPherson,
Joseph Medill, Warner Miller, Edwin D. Morgan, Justin S. Morrill, Lot M.
Morrill, Baron Julian Pauncefote, William Walter Phelps, Wendell Phillips,
Thomas B. Reed, Whitelaw Reid, Horace Rublee, Robert Cumming Schenck, Ellen
Ewing Sherman, John Sherman, William T. Sherman, Charles E. Smith, William
Henry Trescott, Israel Washburn, Elihu B. Washburne, Thurlow Weed, William
Windom, and Fernando Wood.

Scrapbooks in the collection relate almost entirely to Blaine's public
activities during the years 1873 to 1893. Speeches and writings elucidate
his views on many public issues and include a draft of his book Twenty
Years in Congress. Financial matter in the Miscellany series documents his
extensive business activities and includes a record of his assets at his
death. Also in the financial records is an account book kept by Walker
Blaine while on a diplomatic mission to South America from 1881 to 1882.

Much information on the family is located in the Diaries and Memoirs,
Notebooks, and Family Correspondence series. Especially valuable is Harriet
Stanwood Blaine's memoir of President James A. Garfield's assassination.
The first part of the Family Correspondence includes a small group of
letters sent and received by Blaine's father, Ephraim L. Blaine, and his
grandfather, Ephraim Blaine, a prominent figure in the American Revolution.
The second part of the Family Correspondence consists of letters to Blaine
from his immediate family and letters exchanged among family members. The
majority of the letters are written by Harriet Stanwood Blaine, Walker
Blaine, and Blaine's daughter, Margaret Blaine Damrosch. The letters relate
mainly to personal and family matters, although Walker Blaine often wrote
of political and diplomatic topics, especially while in South America from
1881 to 1882. Letters received by family members from outside the family
circle constitute the remaining part of the Family Correspondence. The
letters to Harriet Stanwood Blaine from William E. Chandler and Lucretia
Rudolph Garfield and to Walker Blaine from William Henry Trescott are
particularly revealing. Other prominent correspondents include Chester Alan
Arthur, Andrew Carnegie, James A. Garfield, Bret Harte, John Hay, William
McKinley, Rachel Sherman, and William T. Sherman.

The autograph collection in the Miscellany series contains several items of
historical interest, including letters of Benjamin Franklin, Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, Benjamin Vaughan, and Daniel Webster, two letters of
W. E. Gladstone, Abraham Lincoln's endorsement on the back of a Blaine
letter, and a copy of a letter of George Washington. The collection also
includes twelve pages of holograph notes of Henry Clay, 11 May-9 June 1815,
relating to an Anglo-American commercial convention, a two-page holograph
fragment of Clay's address on the occasion of his resignation as speaker of
the House of Representatives, four pages of James Madison's holograph notes
for a speech at the Richmond Convention of 1829-1830 to revise Virginia's
constitution, and an autograph of John Quincy Adams.

A small Additions series contains family correspondence pertaining to James
G. Blaine and others, 1776-1932, as well as general correspondence and
miscellaneous items.

Organization of the Papers

The collection is arranged in nine series:

   * Diaries and Memoirs, 1871-1939, n.d.
   * Notebooks and Telegrams, ca. 1864-1885, n.d.
   * Family Correspondence, 1777-1945, n.d.
   * James G. Blaine Letters, 1857-1892, n.d.
   * General Correspondence, 1831-1892, n.d.
   * Speeches and Writings, 1856-1892, n.d.
   * Scrapbooks, 1873-1893, n.d.
   * Miscellany, ca. 1781-1943, n.d.
   * Additions, 1776-1932, n.d.


 November 7, 2003